“It seemed like those two men were far too weak.”

Zhou Yan let out a light sigh, and with a single pat of Sorrow’s Breaker, two distinct rays of Blade’s Essence once again shot out from his blade. They spiraled mid-air for a brief moment, then with two swift ‘swooshing’ sounds, it cleanly decapitated both its victim’s head.

Hence, the agonizing and deafening shrieks from both men were instantly silenced.

The only sounds that could be heard by the lake were the leaves rustling.

After a brief moment, the spiraling blade that was orbiting the young lad returned to its sheath.

The freshly slain corpses still had blood gushing out from the gaping holes in their necks. As Zhou Yan stared at them, he grinned and said, “I’ve never intended to kill both of you. However, it’s unfortunate you figured out who I truly am. As a precaution, I’ve ultimately decided to unroot any potential risks.

“If anything, you both forced my hand.”

“Throughout my lifetime, I’ve truly felt that my sensitivity to a killer’s intent had surpassed any average scholars of the blade. Hence, I would rather have taken an innocent life than to put myself in risky situations in the future.”

The current state of this young lad, Zhou Yan, was as if he was mumbling words of madness to himself. At the same time, it looked like this lad was explaining the reason behind the murder to his victims. However, it did not matter what this lad resembled. Through the eyes of any sane man witnessing this, it would have sent shivers down anyone’s spine. This lad would undoubtedly be seen as a scholar of evil, or perhaps even be seen as a mad man.

…

“Whoa, sister, would you look at that? The man whose potential you recognize truly is amazing. He could fully grasp the intricacies of the Blade’s Essence with such haste. From the looks of it, it is truly amazing for anyone to gain complete enlightenment of the Blade’s Essence at the first rank in the realm of the Blade’s Cardinal. It truly is an exceptional achievement.

“This would mean that the full extent of his potential would actually have been the second rank within the realm of the Blade’s Cardinal. It appears that after the spiritual baptism, his combat prowess would have been equal to the raw strength of the third rank within the realm of the Blade’s Cardinal then. He is truly impressive,” said a lass dressed in a long white dress with a gentle smile to a maiden in a long purple dress.

The maiden whose eyes were shut had twelve pure rays of projections of the raw Blade’s Essence, orbiting the young lass. Through the reflection from the maiden’s gradually opening eyes, was a cold, sharp gaze that was boiling with the silhouette of a sharp blade. That silhouette lingered within the confines of her eyes. It never dissipated as she opened them. That lass looked unbelievably deity-like.

“Judging from his natural talents, it is quite possible for the lad to be in the third stage within the realm of the Blade’s Essence. His combat prowess, however, it’s likely to be even more powerful than you could ever imagine.

“He was the only person in the entirety of his family to have mastered all nine forms of the basic Sword Art of the Clear Water Heaven’s Blade perfectly. Now, do you think his natural gifts are simply mediocre?” said the maiden in purple calmly.

“Un…Unreal? Could that lad truly be that powerful?”

That maiden in white seemed skeptical.

However, the maiden in purple remained silent, as she was confident with her own judgment.

“It’s a shame that the Holy Sword can no longer be used, or else, I would wish to once again shatter the walls between the heavens and earth. I’m interested in observing that young lad,” said the maiden in white as she giggled.

The maiden draped in purple merely glared at the young lass in response. Her expression seemed cold and slightly melancholic.

“Hmm, Saintess, we’re both siblings. Can you not react this way? Look at how kind you’ve treated that lad. Could you perhaps, grace your dear sister with a smile? Your dear sister, I was just following your orders, and in fact, took amazing care of him!”

The maiden in white seemed slightly dissatisfied.

“I only wish to be at peace. The only focus on my mind is hard work and training. I do not wish to be anyone’s puppet,” said the mysterious maiden in purple.

“Sigh…Forget it then, let’s not discuss this matter any further. Instead, we shall discuss your crush. Not acknowledging your relationship with this lad in public kept my reputation safe. If this matter was to be brought to the knowledge of the nine guardians, things would be extremely troubling.

“However… that little b*stard is very lustful. It’s likely the lad will not be a loyal person. Judging from his looks, he is a womanizer.”

As the maiden in white thought about Zhou Yan, she had exaggerated certain aspects of the lad.

However, the maiden draped in purple smiled while listening to the other lass. She said softly, “What does this have anything to do with the both of us treating each other so well?”

“…”

As the maiden in white listened to her reply, she grew increasingly excited. However, she only responded with a bitter smile as she shook her head.

It seemed that any couple who was still in the honeymoon phase of a romantic relationship would be repulsive to any ill talk about them. Unfortunately, the saintess was also in this phase.

Hence, she was speechless.

After some time, the lass questioned, “Is the Frost Sould Ore the only thing capable of shattering the shackles of the Blade’s Core of Absolute Cold?”

The maiden in purple remained quiet as she was seemingly lost within the blessed memories of her thoughts. Her pale face slightly blushed.

As the maiden in white witnessed this scene, she was puzzled as to what captivating qualities the average, mediocre lad such as Zhou Yan possessed to have captivated the heart and soul of this saintess? How would she answer the Empress in this debacle?

She proceeded to give Ning’er a serious stare. Upon witnessing her sister’s flushed expression, she was stunned for a second as her heart skipped a beat. If she had not sensed the ‘purity’ that was still present within her body, judging from the way her sister had acted, she would have assumed the young lad had already violated her…

Plenty of thoughts plagued the young lass’s mind. However, she took a deep breath, suppressing her own thoughts, let out a long-winded sigh, and said, “Yes, there isn’t any other way. It was all because the Empress herself cared deeply for you to have reached an agreement with the Wangchuan Residence.

“You’re also aware that the current state of the Snow-Jade Palace is exceptionally weak. We were forced to make such an alliance to strengthen our powers.

“You too understand the fact that the Ji family in the Wangchuan Residence is the only true major family. This is the only family to have absolute control over the management of the Wangchuan Residence, and the young master of the residence is one of a kind. He is an extremely rare genius, a truly exceptional, outstanding man. However, he is such a humble man that not a single soul can compare to such a person…”

“I know that matters such as these do not concern one’s romance. A person’s romance is completely based on the bond and connection of two hearts. I have decided to follow Zhou Yan with all my heart. Thus, no matter how perfect anyone is, it would never sway my feelings.”

The maiden draped in purple, Ning’er, finally spoke her mind.

“Sigh…very well, I shall help you with everything I can. However, this matter could not be delayed for too long as it would be difficult to explain this to the Empress herself. Hence, I shall use your training as an excuse to temporarily delay this matter! One more thing, your ties with Zhou Yan, must be kept hidden from the Empress no matter what,” said the Lady of The Snow-Jade Palace.

“Yes, I understand. Thank you, sister, for your help.”

Ning’er hesitated for a brief moment before finally saying the word ‘sister.’ This had made the Lady of The Snow-Jade Palace pleased.

“Alright, alright. I’m just doing my part. If there is anything else in the future that troubles you, feel free to speak to me, and I will do my best to help you come up with a solution.

“That girl you brought along with you, after my intensive training with her, she progressed to a rank two Blade’s Cardinal in half a day. Since she is not even fifteen years of age, ascending to the realm of the Blade’s Menace before the age of sixteen would not be a difficult task with the help of our resources in training.”

Since the Lady of Snow-Jade Palace was in an extremely joyful mood, she proceeded to tell her sister, Ning’er, everything she had been doing.

Ning’er simply nodded as after hearing everything her sister had told her, she had nothing to worry about.

The only regret she felt was the restriction of the secret arts of the Snow-Jade Palace, which only allowed women to learn and practice, or else, she would have taught Zhou Yan these secret arts to hasten his progress.

…

The Mountain of Heavenly Prophecies.

After looting the Spatial Ring of Infinity from the Fury of The Twin Fiends, Zhou Yan proceeded to sense whatever that was in it. Disappointingly, all he had found was some mid-tier regular crystals, several hundred spiritual essence elixirs, and a seemingly regular looking pitch-black spiritual armor.

After retrieving said armor from the ring, the disappointment in Zhou Yan’s face faded away into a surprised expression.

While the lad focused his mind in sensing this armor, a strange message suddenly flooded his mind. It seemed there was a special message that came with this armor. This combat armor had never been used.

“It seems that they’ve spent their wealth in purchasing some brand-new clothes. This is very likely the infamous ‘Armor of Absolute Invincibility’ from the ‘Wan Jian Residence.’ This alone would cost nearly a thousand low tier spirit crystals.”

As Zhou Yan inspected this armor, he began laughing uncontrollably.

Since the lad possessed such wealth at the moment, he actually contemplated buying such an artifact. However, it seemed that he was blessed with sheer luck. Without hesitation, he put the armor on.

As his heart was swayed, the clothes on the lad’s body completely exploded as the pieces fell from the lad’s body. It was due to the wave of Blade’s Essence that emanated from his body.

A spiritual armor such as this possessed a certain spatial affinity. It could change its size on its own, and not a single speck of dust was able to land on the surface of this armor. These were only the basic ability this armor possessed.

In addition to that, this armor too possessed the ability to resist extreme heat and cold. Its defensive ability was outstanding. It was also graced with astounding self-regenerative abilities, making it a highly sought-after treasure of countless scholars of the sword.

However, in most small cities, not many scholars of the sword would be able to dawn such armor. This was because not many people would be able to afford a couple thousand low-tier spirit crystals on a casual whim.

Within the Canglan City, however, not even someone as gifted as Zhou Lingyi was even graced by a single piece of clothing of Spiritual Affinity. Hence this meant that it was only after the generous gifts from the Lady of the Snow-Jade Palace could Zhou Yan afford something so valuable.

The crystals had three distinctions, which were top tier, mid-tier, and low tier. The exchange rate of each tier was ten crystals of the lower tier.

This meant that a single perfect grade crystal would equal to a thousand mid-tier crystals. A thousand mid-tier crystals would equal to ten thousand low tier crystals. Even with the financial ability of the Zhou family that could afford something so expensive, they would never have purchased a single piece of clothing that was worth a million crystals.

As Zhou Yan dawned the armor, the armor was a perfect fit. It felt very comfortable to wear.

The young lad was worried that after wearing something like this, he would never want to wear regular clothes ever again.

After savoring his newfound priceless armor, the young lad nodded as he was completely satisfied. The young lad then tossed Sorrow’s Breaker mid-air, as the blade instantly morphed into a ray of light. It then spiraled around the young lad and proceeded to fall into the golden sheath that was behind the Armor of Absolutely Invincibility with a swift ‘swooshing’ sound.

His blade fitted perfectly in the golden sheath.

Wearing the Storm Boots that was left behind by his father and dawning a black spiritual armor, the young lad’s long flowing fabulous hair was fluttering with the wind.

The lad looked elegantly fierce more so when paired with Sorrow’s Breaker, a legendary blade. A ferocious aura emanated from the lad’s confident stance.

The lad was extremely eye-catching to anyone.

…